STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS & STUDENT LIFE
CAT-ch A Break: A cat therapy session
What better way to de-stress at the end of a busy semester than with some adorable feline therapy? Held on 4 April 2025, CAT-ch A Break brought 32 students together for a soothing cat therapy session at The Cat Experience @ The Star Vista.
Organised by the CDE Wellness Ambassadors, the event provided a welcome pause amid mounting project deadlines and exam stress. Set in a cosy cat café with gentle, friendly felines, our students enjoyed a quiet hour to slow down, breathe, and take comfort in the presence of their furry companions.
Each session created a stress-free environment where both students and cats could feel at ease. As the cats curled up beside participants or played nearby, the mood shifted, conversations softened, shoulders relaxed, and smiles spread as strangers bonded over a shared appreciation for animals.
Beyond the adorable interactions, the workshop highlighted the importance of mental health and intentional rest. In post-session reflections, students shared heartfelt feedback and expressed strong support for future wellness initiatives.
Empowering communities through design: MArch students’ social architecture journey in Cambodia
"Meaningful design comes from actively listening to the community,” said Shiu Jerome Millian, after a fieldwork trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia.
He was one of eight Master of Architecture students who took part in an immersive learning journey through the Architectural Design Options Studio in AY2024/2025 Semester 2, led by Associate Professor Tan Beng Kiang.
As part of the Master of Architecture programme’s research-based approach, the Design Options Studios encourage students to explore complex issues through critical, iterative design. Students are trained to think both materially and analytically, applying architectural knowledge to real-world contexts while cultivating social awareness and empathy.
This semester, the studio focused on designing a learning and social enterprise facility for ROOTS, a Cambodian NGO supporting disadvantaged children, co-developed with alumna Trecia Lim (Architecture ’05) of WeCreate Studio.
In Cambodia, students explored how architecture can support sustainable livelihoods by combining education with income-generating activities. Through homestays, participatory workshops, and direct engagement with villagers, the students gained insights into local needs, construction practices, and the role of design in driving social impact.
"This kind of real-world project fosters empathy in students. It is an essential quality in anyone, especially future architects,” said Assoc Prof Tan. “It challenges them to step outside their comfort zones, adapt to unfamiliar environments, and engage meaningfully with communities. Students learn to design with people rather than for people, applying their skills to improve the lives of the disadvantaged in tangible ways. It’s a powerful experience that shows them how architecture has the potential to empower and transform communities.”
From the classroom to Cambodia, discover how our students are designing with purpose. Read the full article here
Five Master of Architecture students challenge perceptions and e-waste at i Light Singapore 2025
It all began with a handful of curious conversations among coursemates, sparked by the inspiration of a fellow student who participated in last year’s i Light Singapore. This year, five Master of Architecture students, united by their shared drive to express bold ideas, joined forces to create “This Is Not A Screen”. Their thought-provoking installation reflects on the subtle yet pressing decline in social well-being and media literacy, as well as society’s growing dependence on technology and the mounting waste it produces.
Click here to discover more about their artwork, the creative process behind it, and what it truly means to collaborate as a team.
Nasi Ulam Garden: A living classroom of edible plants
Did you know that along the path from TechnoEdge to SDE3 are lobi-lobi trees that bear a tangy red berry? These tiny berries can be made into a delicious jam, similar in taste and texture to the raspberry! Botanically known as Flacourtia inermis, it is a popular tree for ecological landscaping in Singapore, as the young leaves serve as food for caterpillars.
The Landscape Architecture programme held the eighth session of their planting day at the Nasi Ulam Garden on 22 May 2025. Situated beside the Centre for English Language Communication, the garden was set up to explore alternative campus greenery that allows spontaneous plants and edible components to flourish together with selective maintenance. For this edition of planting day, participants were tasked with identifying and tagging the edible plants in the garden.
Mdm Boo Chih Min, lead floral horticulturist at biodiversity consulting firm Camphora, was invited to teach participants the various methods of identifying plants. This includes studying the leaf arrangement, inspecting the veins on each leaf, and even smelling and tasting the leaves. You need all your senses in order to identify the plants accurately! Participants identified plants such as cassava, Indian mulberry, tamarind, sweet potato and many more!
Afiq Shawal (Year 2, Biomedical Engineering) was one of the participants who eagerly identified and tagged the plants. "It was a fantastic experience as we're surrounded by so much greenery around Singapore, yet we're usually not aware of how useful these plants are. Today's session opened my eyes to the edible greenery around us," said Afiq.
If you want to learn more about the Nasi Ulam Garden, watch for @nus.la’s posts!
Dylan Chia clinches 2nd place at the AI Agent Hackathon organised by The Generative Beings
Dylan Chia (Year 4, Computer Engineering) competed solo and developed PadiChat, an AI-powered agent designed to help Southeast Asian farmers improve their crop yields by answering farming-related questions. Built using LangChain and LangGraph, the project stood out for its meaningful impact and practical use of GenAI tools.
This was Dylan’s first solo hackathon, and he walked away with not just a $5,000 prize, but also valuable connections and learning experiences from fellow GenAI enthusiasts.
Find out more about his project here.
Nautilus Technology earns a Green Lane to the $10K VIP Grant at NUS Enterprise Pitch Night
Barbara Chong (Year 3, Computer Engineering), Joel Lo (Year 4, Industrial and Systems Engineering), and Deren Cheng (Year 4, Computer Science) are the team behind Nautilus Technology, a deep-tech venture tackling illegal maritime activity using AI, satellite data, and open-source intelligence (OSINT).
“The idea for Nautilus Technology came from the intersection of our experiences. One of my teammates had a background in maritime shipping, while I brought expertise in AI and data analysis. We saw a pressing need for greater transparency in maritime trade, especially with the rise of dark fleet activity and sanctions evasion. That insight sparked our mission to build a smarter, AI-powered system. One that uses satellite data to detect and track dark ships, starting with a focus on Asia, where these challenges are especially urgent,” said Barbara at NUS Enterprise Pitch Night.
Held at N-House, NUS’s entrepreneurship-themed residence run by NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC), Pitch Night is a platform for student founders to showcase their ideas to peers, mentors, and potential investors.
Their compelling pitch earned them a Green Lane to the NUS Venture Initiation Programme (VIP) Grant, a fast-track to up to S$10,000 in seed funding over a 12-month term. The VIP Grant supports the entrepreneurial pursuits of NUS students and alumni by providing not just funding, but also access to mentorship, co-working spaces, and a start-up community to help innovative ideas take flight.
From building a deep-tech prototype to pitching at Google Singapore, the Nautilus team is just getting started.
Read on to hear what Barbara has to say about the journey, the inspiration behind Nautilus, and the lessons learned along the way.